The exodus of people from the
Old World to the New in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
represents one of the largest folk migrations of all time. Norway’s
participation in the Atlantic crossing is not remarkable in
quantitative terms, but seen in relationship to her population,
it was a blood-letting — a great loss of men and women in their
most productive years. From the time of the arrival of the Sloop
folk, the first immigrants in 1825, to 1915, official records
show that about 800,000 Norwegians migrated to America. This
figure is more than four fifths of Norway’s total number of
inhabitants in 1801. The heaviest drain on people occurred in
the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when the country
retained less than one half of its natural increase. In the
1880’s, eleven out of every thousand Norwegians were leaving
annually. Comparative figures for other national groups would
be six Swedes, six Englishmen, four Germans, and sixteen Irishmen.
Accordingly, Norway has proportionately given more of her sons
and daughters to the American melting pot than any other country
except Ireland {1}

An estimate of the combined number of people of [4] Norwegian
birth or ancestry in America at any given time would tend
to be speculative, the margin for inaccuracy increasing with
the addition of each new generation. United States census
returns account only for those born in Norway and their children,
later generations being considered native Americans. In 1925
O. M. Norlie attempted to calculate the size of the Norwegian
stock in the New World at ten-year intervals, beginning in
1880. Counting five generations for the original immigrants,
he computed a total of 961,901 in 1900. By 1920 his estimate
reached 2,168,355, making no allowance for those of mixed
lineage. {2}

Norlie’s figures need not be too far afield. It is, however,
more valid and of greater significance to ask for the number
of those who retained the native tongue. Only they, regardless
of distance from national origin, could serve as an adequate
foundation for immigrant institutions. Many more would, of
course, demonstrate a keen interest in things Norwegian. The
census figures provide the sole available large-scale data.
Knowledge of the number of first- and second-generation immigrants
indicates the size of the group closest to the old-country
background. In 1910 there were 402,587 living Norwegian immigrants
— a high point revealing an increase of more than 60,000 from
1900. To the former number may be added 607,267 persons who
reported one or both parents as Norwegian-born. {3}

The group of foreign-born, a large percentage of their children,
and an indeterminate number of later generations constitute
the body of Norwegian-speaking Americans. The 1940 census,
which tried to determine the number of speakers of foreign
languages, reports that as many as 658,220 Americans declared
Norwegian to be the language of their childhood home. Such
applicable statistics, when seen in the light of the [5] adverse
effects World War I and subsequent developments had on the
use of immigrant languages, make it possible to sense the
size of the Norwegian-speaking group in the first decades
of the century. From it, efforts to retain old-world language,
culture, and traditions could emanate. {4}

Taking only the size of the immigrant body into account,
it becomes evident that Norwegian migration left a clear imprint
on the character of the American people. This judgment especially
pertains to the western Upper Midwest, which became the home
of the bulk of immigrants. The principal area of settlement
extended from northern Illinois northwestward into Wisconsin,
Minnesota, the Dakotas, and eastern Montana. Westward it spread
into Iowa and as far as northeastern Nebraska.

The majority of immigrants made their livelihood on farms
scattered throughout the region, or they lived in the many
small towns and villages that dotted the countryside and served
as community centers. Norwegian Americans appeared as the
most rurally disposed of all the immigrant peoples. The promise
of land, made free and available to every sincere settler
by the Homestead Act of 1862, was the incitement that caused
the immigrant frontiersmen to advance with, and sometimes
head, the steady trek westward. They tackled the wind-swept
prairie with an intensity of purpose, an abundance of courage,
and a sturdiness of character — demonstrating national traits
that were an indispensable asset in the days of pioneering.
{5}

Urban colonies developed early in such metropolitan areas
as Chicago and Minneapolis; after 1900, large enclaves of
Norwegians emerged in Brooklyn on the Atlantic seaboard and
in Seattle on the Pacific. Settlement on the west coast continued
to increase in the twentieth century, especially around Puget
Sound, and in the interior Norwegians [6] participated in
the extension of the American frontier into the Canadian provinces
of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. {6}

Even so, the Middle West most clearly exhibits the immigrant
experience. Social isolation in the many close-knit rural
communities made the preservation of the Norwegian past easier
than in areas where American society was dominant in supreme
degree. Language and national personality were shielded and
more easily retained in the regions of heavy settlement, where
a feeling of solidarity was more clearly expressed. The Middle
West became the mainspring of the most outstanding social,
cultural, religious, and political activity based on old-world
tradition and background.

The departure from the homeland had an unmistakable finality
about it. The emigrants entered upon a road of no return.
K. G. Nilsen recalls his mother’s saying when he was a child,
"I would rather have you dead than see you off to America."
{7} The heartbreaking goodby, the conviction that the birthplace
and all it embodied was lost forever, and the realization
that accustomed ways were no longer possible left deep and
painful scars. The immigrants’ experiences imbedded the home
region and all its associations securely in the mind and heart.
The years of toil, loneliness, and disillusion, far from their
own kin, added luster and attraction to their recollections.

American society, in the rough and unfinished form expressed
in frontier regions, contrasted strongly with their memories
of the homeland. Many had left Norway at an age when the duties
and hardships of adult life had not fully come to bear upon
them. The idealized conditions they remembered were those
that centered around the security of parental care, the happy
playgrounds of childhood, and the sturdy character of an old-world
society. Their thoughts of Norway were filled with deep love
and sympathy; letters kept [7] these sentiments vivid and
uppermost in their minds. Homesickness, insecurity, and a
sense of inferiority when confronted with persons of older
American stock made them cling to bygone values and ways.

The immigrants were not content with merely flocking together
in settlements of fellow Norwegians: They took one step further
and formed colonies with people from the same valley, fjord,
or parish in Norway. Thus there came into being in this country
Halling settlements, Trønder settlements, settlements
of immigrants from Telemark, Setesdal, Nordland, and other
definable districts in the old country. The steady movement
westward had the effect of intermixing the immigrant stock,
but, even so, certain groups tended to predominate in individual
areas. The cultural uniformity of the communities was an additional
shelter in a strange, at times hostile, environment. Another
apparent advantage was the effortless retention of localized
aspects of their national heritage that these conditions favored.

Time and distance determined the amount of social intermingling
— much of it advanced by church activities. The immigrants
did not attend services wholly for religious purposes. The
church edifice was a gathering place for new settlers from
miles around, and as in Norway the church green became a place
to seek out friends and relatives, to exchange news of family
and community affairs, to attend to urgent business, and to
reminisce about times past. Picnics, conventions, celebrations,
and weddings served to satisfy the social needs of the immigrants.

The coming of the twentieth century marked a gradual emergence
from the poverty and deprivations of pioneer life. Relative
prosperity produced a broadening of interests. Not all energy
was now consumed in the everyday struggle for existence. The
extended view also reduced the position of the church as a
social center. These developments gave the immigrants a sense
of having made a place for themselves in America, a strong
conviction that their background and [8] make-up were fully
equal in quality to those of other ethnic groups, and a conscious
— and, on occasion, exultant — pride in their status as Norwegians.
These sentiments were helped along by the striking success
of immigrant institutions, by the fact that leaders among
them openly boasted of their national origin, and by the many
persons of Norwegian ancestry who made distinctive careers
in American society. In the period from 1900 to World War
I, enthusiasm culminated in a magnificent flowering of Norwegian-American
cultural and social endeavors.

Events in Norway added fervor to the growth of patriotism.
Continued emigration produced a steady flow of interested
promoters and stimulated earlier groups of settlers to display
and to promote Norwegianness in the New World. Still another
source of pride and encouragement was the many individuals
of Norwegian birth who gained international recognition in
varied fields. They became eager spokesmen for the fatherland
at a time when it was in a struggle for full national independence.
The successful overthrow of Swedish dominance in the twin
monarchy, with the emergence of a distinct national identity
in 1905, created waves of elation that deluged Norwegians
both at home and abroad. The time seemed ripe for shaping
a Norwegian America. {8}

A flurry of organizational activity characterized the period
after 1905. It was an effort on the part of the immigrants
to unite in order to preserve and to strengthen the cultural
bonds with Norway. Singing societies, male choruses, library
and debate groups, athletic clubs, and a number of others
spoke for a wide variety of causes and interests. Norwegian
Americans had been organizing from early days, but not on
the same scale or with such wide appeal. There was a general
tendency toward the development of associations that took
on a regional or national role and established district and
local units. There was a strong desire to reach all countrymen.
[9] Such groups as Sons of Norway and the Norwegian Society
of America are good examples of the trend. {9}

The bygdelag concept must in this connection be considered
a unique aspect of a larger Norwegian-American movement. The
launching of the bygdelag demonstrated the deep consciousness
of regional origin that the immigrants harbored. The term
in reference to immigrant organizational activity developed
in American usage. The first part of the compound, bygd, has
no precise equivalent in the English language. It has derived
from the verb bygge, to build, and hence a bygd would be a
built-up place or settlement. In Norway bygd might refer to
a topographically and socially defined community of farmsteads,
a definition which represents the widest usage. It could,
however, also be used for the administrative township (herred),
the parish (sogn), or even a group of these units. To a Norwegian,
the word connoted a sense of sharing, of living together,
and represented a unified area of customs and traditions.
The term lag in the context of the compound means society
or even societies. An American bygdelag would thus be a society
of immigrants from a particular settlement, group of settlements,
some general district, fjord, or valley in Norway, and of
their descendants in this country. It might consist of people
from a few to a great number of communities referred to as
bygd in Norway. {10}

Historically, the movement falls within the twentieth century,
and it has generally been sustained by first- and second-generation
immigrants. Geographically, activity has largely confined
itself to the Middle West, not spreading east of Chicago.
On the west coast, the same considerations that originally
gave birth to the idea produced local activity by [10] independent
groups or by divisions of the Middle West lag. Eventually
independent organizations also developed in the Canadian provinces
and ultimately merged with the American movement. The individual
bygdelag attempted to appeal to all immigrants from the region
they represented. They therefore declared themselves as national
societies at their inception. Some of them were, however,
nation-wide associations only in name, in the sense that their
membership was limited to an interested group in one particular
region or urban area. {11}

The immigrants from Valdres, a district in the central interior
of Norway, inaugurated the bygdelag. A proportionately heavy
emigration created large colonies of these people in tile
Middle West. A reunion of immigrants who stemmed from Valdres
took place on June 25, 1899, in Minnehaha Park, Minneapolis.
Its marked success, one reporter estimating 800 present, made
a repetition of the experiment inevitable. {12} Annual meetings
continued to attract much attention, but although the subject
of permanent organization had already been broached before
the first gathering, it was not effected before the Minneapolis
reunion in August, 1902. The name given the new society was
Valdres Samband (Valdres Union). {13} The word used to describe
the annual or semiannual reunions was stevne, usually in the
form Valdresstevne, and later with the coming of other lag,
also Hallingstevne, Telestevne, and so on. There was not general
approval of permanency, some persons thinking this too clannish,
others finding it a deterrent to broader Norwegian-American
movements. But the strong desire to ensure such conventions
or stevne in the future encouraged those who emerged as leaders
to adopt a lasting framework. [11]

A productive precedent had been established. All other contingents
of Norwegian immigrants shaped their groups along the same
lines as the Valdres folk. At all reunions there was a profusion
of speech making and storytelling, the latter often in the
popular epigrammatic tradition of rural Norway. All gatherings
practiced community singing and listened to individual performers
or groups; many had folk music performed by capable fiddlers;
some had demonstrations of folk dances; generally there was
some kind of religious devotion or church service. Exhibitions
and displays of arts and crafts aroused interest. Local and
national dishes were a part of the traditional banquet, and
visiting and reminiscing continued throughout the stevne,
which lasted from one to three days. The informal fellowship
was the most cherished aspect of the gatherings.

Valdres Samband was widely accepted and gradually became
the envy of other immigrant groups. Even so, the bygdelag
idea attained prominence only slowly. It began "like
a whisper in the field on a summer’s day" (lik ei susing
i kornet sumardag), as the eminent lag historian Torkel Oftelie
expressed it. {14} For several years the many attempts to
emulate the Valdres people bore no fruit in spite of an extensive
agitation in the Norwegian-American press and sincere efforts
by groups and individuals. Some explanation may be offered:
the cautiousness and conservatism of the farmer, or even Norwegian
modesty. There was also a measure of distrust of secular societies.
In any case, the requisite leadership was lacking.

In 1907 the bygdelag movement entered upon its period of
greatest growth. Leaders who believed in and were willing
to assume responsibility appeared in all groups. Simultaneously,
other conditions favored the organization of new societies.
Prerequisite to the life of any bygdelag was increased mobility.
Money was available to pay railroad fares, there [12] were
better roads, and, finally, the automobile was coming into
use. The gradual adoption of the automobile encouraged for
the first time large conventions of widely dispersed people.

The appearance of Telelaget and Hallinglaget heralded a new
advance in 1907. {15} Both lag represented well-defined regions
— Telemark and Hallingdal — that had sent a large number of
their people to America. The term lag appeared as a part of
the very names of the new organizations, and the designation
bygdelag became universally accepted. Suffixed to the name
of the society was the definite article et, corresponding
to the English the. Telelaget would thus be the Tele Society,
Hallinglaget, the Hailing Society or the Society for Hallings.
Later groups took up the same naming policy. {16}

A chronological outline of the movement would include five
new lag in 1908. Sognalaget showed that the idea had caught
on among immigrants from the coastal regions of Norway. Trønderlaget
represented a new idea: it emerged as an expression of unity
among people from a whole diocese (stift) . Few groups encountered
so many difficulties as the Trønders before their lag
achieved a viable and permanent form. Their halting start
defied the proud slogan of many of its promoters: "It
won’t amount to anything before the Trønders arrive"
(Dæ bli ‘it no taa før Trønderan kjem)
. Later in 1908 Nordlandslaget assembled immigrants from the
three northernmost counties (amt; after 1918, fylke) . Immigrants
from Setesdal, one of the most distinctive and isolated of
Norway’s valleys, formed their society in 1909 along with
three other groups. The movement was coming to represent both
the small and the large districts of the homeland; an infectious
idea was taking [13] on the proportions of an epidemic among
all segments of the people. {17}

As the individual lag organized, elected an executive board,
and drew up a constitution, the members had to consider their
status and also their short- and long-range objectives. A
perusal of the various constitutions reveals lofty ideals
and ambitious programs, besides an emphasis on the social
and sentimental considerations that had first promoted the
idea. The lag endeavored, of course, to foster and maintain
a feeling of kinship and co-operation among immigrants from
a common ancestral home region. Furthermore, they desired
to preserve and strengthen ties with this locality. They worked
to retain and enrich inherited cultural values in the fields
of language, literature, history, and art, and to create a
knowledge and appreciation of these values among their members.
Common resolves of the lag also expressed ambitious plans
to collect, preserve, and publish biographical and historical
matter from the pioneer period. Other more specific purposes
and goals might be stressed by individual societies. {18}

By 1913 all major national lag had been organized — 31 in
all. At this time Oslolaget, comprising people from the capital,
joined the sisterhood. {19} Later other city groups organized.
An exact number of lag would to a degree depend upon an exact
definition. The lag under consideration are those that were
national in appeal, but a number of other societies, operating
as sub-lag representing smaller districts, are almost indistinguishable
from the national associations. In addition, chapters [14]
— local lag, and in some instances state lag — also developed.
The number of such small organizations is very large. Stavanger
Amt Laget also evolved sub-lag for the different districts
or parishes in the home region. Each of these groups had separate
reunions during the convention of the national society. Thus
it can easily be seen that a precise definition of bygdelag
cannot be made.

There can be no doubt that the movement — from year to year,
directly and indirectly — touched a large number of people,
or that it consequently stands out as a major development.
It is evident that if one considers all activity pertaining
to bygdelag groups, the total number of people involved is
much greater than if one (as often has been done) confines
the estimate to the national reunions. In 1929, at a time
when participation was decreasing, John Hjeilum of Skandinaven
gave the total attendance for all national conventions as
50,000. His figure was based on a tour of the Middle West
and visits to meetings of a large number of societies, perhaps
thirty-five or forty. L. M. Gimmestad, one of the pillars
of Nordfjordlaget, thought that about 75,000 individuals annually
came under the direct influence of the lag. Indirectly, many
more benefited from the lag spirit. {20}

Attendance at the individual conventions varied greatly,
depending on the location of the particular stevne and the
size of the group. By 1911 the bygdelag were well under way,
there being then in all twenty-five societies. That year the
Hallingstevne in Brooten, Minnesota, reported an astounding
attendance of about 6,000. All meetings were conducted in
a large tent, and the lag members stayed in homes in and around
the town. Nordlandslaget attracted about 1,000 to its reunion
at Thief River Falls, Minnesota; approximately 1,500 Sognings
met at Madison, Wisconsin; and Trønderlaget was able
to attract about 1,500 to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In the
same year, a small lag like Sunnmørslaget reported
about 200 at its [15] meeting in Minneapolis. Around 300 members
of Hadelandslaget congregated in Como Park, St. Paul, and
Mjøsenlaget had 500 at its organizing meeting in Minneapolis.
At that time, attendance had not reached its peak in most
societies, as the number of national lag eventually almost
doubled. {21}

Co-operative efforts among existing lag began as early as
1909. The occasion was a desire to participate jointly, both
in this country and in Norway, in celebrations to commemorate
the centenary of the Norwegian constitution of 1814. A successful
completion of the festivities, a three-day celebration at
the fair grounds in St. Paul, demonstrated the desirability
of a permanent common forum. In 1916 the Bygdelagenes Fællesraad
(Council of Bygdelags) came into being as an advisory body
and a clearinghouse for the bygdelag and the joint projects
they adopted. All member societies had equal representation.
The Fællesraad appeared as a further development of
the spirit of fellowship and mutual confidence that the movement
generated. {22}

One of the great expressions of bygd identity, and a stimulus
causing a few lag to organize, was the practice of making
gifts to the home district in Norway. They were presented
as tokens of gratitude for the heritage the bygd had imparted,
and as a means of preserving ties of kinship across the waters.
Contributions were often in the nature of relief for the poor,
endowment funds for the deserving needy, aid to old people,
or financial support to combat the scourge of tuberculosis.
These gifts demonstrate that the immigrants had not forgotten
the unhappy aspects of bygd life, although the aid likely
continued for a longer period of time than conditions actually
warranted. Still, they reveal a genuine solidarity with, and
a deep sympathy for, the welfare of the ancestral district.
Nordlandslaget showed a keen understanding of actual needs
when it presented [16] a rescue ship to aid fishermen plying
the treacherous coast of northern Norway. Other donations
had a more visible character: church organs, commemorative
markers, and money for a variety of projects that had been
asked for by the people at home — or suggested by the immigrants
themselves.

World War I curtailed activities somewhat. Many lag canceled
their annual meetings for the duration, and those that continued
their regular conventions drew much smaller crowds than before.
Beginning in 1920, however, there was an acceleration of activity
and a resurgence of enthusiasm, although the restrictions
on immigration imposed by law appeared as the handwriting
on the wall.

It may be said that the bygdelag movement reached a climax
in 1925. The Norse-American Centennial celebrations of that
year in St. Paul, under the auspices of the associated bygdelag,
was the most magnificent demonstration of Norwegian-American
spirit — and an impressive expression of homage to the era
that had passed. The publication of the centennial committee
lists thirty-seven lag that were to participate in the commemorative
ceremonies. Thus stimulated, several late corners to the sisterhood
of bygdelag emerged. The total number of national societies
now swelled to about fifty independent groups. {23}

In the 1920’s, despite outstanding accomplishments, there
were clear signs that the lag movement was slowly losing momentum
and was in fact on a downhill course. Normanden in Grand Forks,
North Dakota, estimated in 1926 that less than five per cent
of the membership were young people. The period after 1930
tells the familiar story of immigrant amalgamation and gradual
phasing out of bygdelag activity. A goodly number of lag exist
to this day, however, and many efforts and individual achievements
make the period well worth systematic study. {24} [17]

The bygdelag idea did not capture the imagination of third-generation
immigrants in numbers sufficient to guarantee the future of
the movement. This development would seem to be inevitable.
It may be alleged, however, that promotion on a grass-roots
level has been neglected. Most members have shown greater
concern for enjoying the reunions than for generating interest
for lag objectives and programs in their children. Perhaps
not much could have been done. Prevailing conditions explain
why the individual lag have tended to be conservative, to
cling to traditional customs and ways, and to stagnate in
their image of expanded family get-togethers. The movement
on the whole has failed to find a new base for its existence
once the original drive — the Norwegian "self" as
it appeared in the bygd at the time of immigration — weakened
with the dying out of the original immigrant stock. Admittedly,
many lag have shown a tenacity putting dire predictions of
extinction to shame. The survival of the movement into the
1970’s is a remarkable feat in itself.

Granted that retention of immigrant identification has not
been widespread in the third generation and beyond, the role
played by American-born Norwegians merits special comment.
They acquired an interest in the old-country bygd through
new-world home relationships. The mother tongue, spoken in
the family, had a special warmth and significance as the language
of the most intimate and valuable experiences. English was
the language of the outer shell of life — encountered in business,
education, and government. Representatives of the later generations
became the ardent promoters of immigrant institutions. A.
A. Veblen, the great pioneer of the bygdelag movement, was
a good example of the bilingual second generation. He discovered
a genuine value in his heritage, developed a strong sense
of identity with his ancestral home, had his appreciation
fortified through association with Norwegian-American institutions,
and displayed a real interest in, and perhaps a need for,
asserting the equality and strength of the Norwegian stock.
[18]

Opponents of the bygdelag saw in them another divisive force
similar to the political and religious controversies that
were splitting the immigrants. Ultimately the detractors were
proved wrong, as lag activity brought the different church
bodies and political groups closer together. The Reverend
Helge Høverstad, who had associated with the bygdelag
from the start, in 1929 expressed his firm conviction that
the movement prepared the way for the union of the several
Norwegian Lutheran synods. {25} It was actually the only major
trend cutting across all dividing lines; controversial issues
were deliberately kept out of lag programs. The assertion
of regionalism furthermore introduced the immigrants to phases
of their heritage that they knew little about. Joint efforts
brought the various groups into close contact. A sense of
participating in a large and significant undertaking created
solidarity with sister societies.

Uniting forces were, of course, pre-eminent features of individual
bygdelag. The composition of the settlements facilitated retention
of localized facets of the Norwegian background and provided
a base of operation, but it was in itself not a cause of the
movement. The desire for reunions resulted mainly from the
mixing process as it moved westward. It grew out of a longing
to meet and renew acquaintances and to revive half-forgotten
memories of the old-country past. The lag appear similar to
old-settlers’ societies, but aside from outward likenesses
they are distinct and different. They early adopted an organizational
machinery, had nation-wide appeal, established joint publications,
set themselves ambitious objectives, and advocated the maintaining
and enriching of the cultural aspects of their national heritage.

One of the significant means of promoting the broader objectives
of the bygdelag was through publishing ventures. The most
active groups have had ambitious plans. For periods of [19]
time some have printed quarterly or monthly magazines; some
have issued yearbooks. Still others have sponsored only a
few unimportant publications or have had none.

These printed materials have frequently been the responsibility
of the few who realized their worth. They have tried to record
pioneer and immigrant history, to present a picture of the
homeland, and to collect biographies and genealogies of their
countrymen. Although the contents are to a marked degree antiquarian
in nature, there is obviously much of value in the collections
and narratives. At the time they were published, they had
a decidedly interest-arousing influence. {26}

More might possibly have been accomplished. Idealistically
conceived plans for permanent archives to preserve historical
records never matured. There likely has been a lack of editorial
talent; men attempted tasks for which they had no training.
Besides, all such endeavors were largely a labor of love.
They had neither sufficient financial support nor were there,
in fact, enough individuals who could make the required sacrifice
of time and effort. In the main, the meager results of their
work attest to the incidental character of such enterprises.
Social considerations have always been foremost in attracting
people to the lag, and the main interest of members has been
the reunion itself. In years when they were unable to attend,
they usually felt no obligation to pay the modest dues most
lag collected. Lists of members therefore do not indicate
the total of people to whom lag appealed. Instead they likely
represent the number who attended in any particular year.

Indifference of the members to many projects introduced by
leaders made their responsibility formidable. When D. G. Ristad
took stock of the first twenty-five years of Trønderlaget,
he chastised his fellow Trønders mildly for their negligence
in backing undertakings that their lag had adopted. "Consequently
lack of support in the past 25 years of the existence of Trønderlaget
has precluded its service to our [20] people as it should
be." Such reflections set the degree of lag success in
its proper perspective. {27}

When Ristad spoke of "our people," he might have
had in mind all Norwegian immigrants, but he may also have
been thinking specifically of his kindred Trønder Americans.
To understand the manifestations of regionalism on American
soil, it is necessary to investigate the conditions under
which these people were reared. One incisive point should
be made before proceeding to a description of the immigrants’
homeland base. The expressions of local patriotism developed
from a position of national unity rather than of sectional
disparity. During the years that saw the rise of the bygdelag
movement, the immigrants rested securely in a Norwegian-American
identity. Their ethnic identification was, however, an outgrowth
of local loyalties and attachments. The bygd concept represented
a link with the past way of life — the only response to ethnicity
that made concrete experiences the basis for personal identity
and continuity.

A glance at the physical characteristics of Norway reveals
a rugged, mountainous country that gives only limited possibilities
for agricultural production; about three fourths of the area
is unsuitable for habitation or cultivation. Yet, during the
period of great migration, Norway had primarily an agrarian
economy, most of her population living in rural regions. The
country people lived in small communities scattered along
rivers and lakes of the interior or on the narrow and extremely
long coast. The rolling meadowland of the southeast formed
the only unified population area, but even there settlements
tended to be limited in size.

These communities were segregated and isolated, the extent
varying in accordance with natural barriers such as forests,
mountains, and fjords. Intercourse with the outside world
was limited. Groups of people sharing the same fjord or valley
would form a cohesive unit, at times coextensive with the
[21] official administrative division or even the historically
based folk district.

Such assemblages of bygder would have much in common, although
there would be local variations. Near isolation developed
through centuries regional types, differences in personality,
customs, traditions, and, above all, language. Intermarriage
established ties of kinship within the community. Living in
close proximity to nature in itself left an indelible imprint;
every glen and peak and rushing waterfall had its significance.
The small farmsteads, cleared and cultivated by the toil of
ages, created a sense of belonging to a fixed and predetermined
generation cycle. Thus there evolved in every heart a deep
attachment to and love of the bygd and its traditions.

Peculiarity of speech was what most clearly set boundaries.
Developments in the dialects, virtually unchecked for centuries,
had been actively working on the language. The official Dano-Norwegian
of church and government affected rural speech only slightly.
An outsider, a person from another district or bygd, was immediately
betrayed by his dialect. With people who used the same local
vernacular, there was an immediate response, a feeling of
kinship, and an opportunity to talk a relaxed, natural speech
flavored with the rich and expressive idioms of the locality.
Personality could unfold freely, as the idiosyncrasies of
the common dialect were at once recognized and loved. {28}

With language the most distinctive element, a regional culture
emerged. It was nourished by outside influences but molded
and basically shaped in local application. Specialties in
dance, music, games, painting, wood carving, and folklore
developed alongside local customs and traditions in dress,
food, and general conduct.

The romantic national renaissance of the nineteenth century
elevated peasant culture to a place of honor. It made rural
[22] Norway the carrier of an unbroken national tradition
— the genuine Norway — as opposed to the urban and more Danish-oriented
heritage. The emphasis on the folk heritage and the creation
of landsmaal, a literary language based on dialects, grew
into a strong social, political, and cultural movement that
challenged the established foreign-influenced order. Rural
Norway rose in prominence and influence to an extent that
few countries could match.

The struggle for national recognition, against stronger Scandinavian
neighbors, made Norwegians fiercely patriotic. The sense of
being members of a nation was never lost. Local isolation
had, however, produced biased and stereotyped judgments about
the character of Norwegians from other regions of the country.
In time such views were mellowed, and they were to become
little more than a subject for humorous reference, but, even
so, the basic attitudes also persisted in the New World. An
observation suggested to the author by Lars Reinton is that
"Norway is a country of many nations which naturally
draw together when they get outside the country." {29}

The spirit of bygd identity and rivalry was presented in
the New World in 1901 in Rasmus B. Anderson’s "Bygdejævning,"
a series of articles first printed in his newspaper, Amerika
(Madison, Wisconsin), which were later published in book form.
Several writers contend that these articles greatly stimulated
the bygdelag idea. In them the contributors enumerated the
accomplishments made in America by immigrants from the writers’
home localities. Half jocosely a writer would begin, "There
is every reason to assume in advance that the Telemarkings
have contributed most among Norwegian Americans, since they
are of course Telemarkings." The author would then go
on to prove his point. Such friendly bantering and self-praise
was very much in the bygdelag tradition. {30} [23]

Some of the contributors resorted to dialect. One began,
"When I am going to write about the Sognings it is a
matter of course that I use their own language" (Naar
eg skal skriva om Sogningadn, saa er det sjølsagt,
at eg lyt bruka deira cige Maal). {31} The bygdelag reunions
marked the heyday of the use of dialect in America. Certain
lag even drafted constitutions in the Norwegian vernacular,
speakers used it from the rostrum, and the members reveled
in it. For some, a generation had passed since the stevne
had made it possible to renew home ties — to assemble with
kindred bygd folk. The meeting had been a kind of oasis, a
visit to the ancestral bygd, for many of them the only kind
they would ever know. What had transpired at the stevne —
mainly the people whom they had met — was a cherished topic
to be dwelt on from one reunion to the next.

In the wake of such considerations, and incidental to them,
is the question of how much of the bygd heritage the lag movement
as a whole introduced in America. The members at the meetings
enjoyed an indulgence and a revelry in Norwegian-ness. Although
the organizations differed, the combined activities of the
lag certainly generated considerable enthusiasm for peasant
arts and crafts in a variety of areas. As in Norway, the movement
made the peasant background acceptable: the immigrant chest
could be dragged out and given a place of honor. No complete
breakthrough of folk culture as the phrase would be understood
in Norway resulted. Elements of it were visible, and an awakening
of interest in folk activity held promises that influenced
many fields of Norwegian-American life.

The Norway cherished by the immigrants was the idealized
one of the national romanticists. Publications never tire
of stressing the past glories of the bygd, and poems — a number
in dialect — abound in the use of the words "dear"
and "beautiful," often used redundantly. The annual
enactment by [24] Hardangerlaget of the ultraromantic incident
suggested by the painting, "The Bridal Procession in
Hardanger," epitomizes the Sunday mood of Norway cherished
in the societies. {32} Appreciation and enjoyment of the old-world
heritage, however, did not move notably beyond nostalgia.
The vigorous use of dialect at the reunions and in lag publications
gained prestige from the success of landsmaal in Norway, but
it never led to a wide acceptance of the new language in America.
In the context in which the bygdelag existed and operated,
no more could reasonably be expected. What is remarkable is
that rural Norway raised its head in America by generating
a large and influential movement that contributed worthily
to the quality of life of the people it served.

The folk background and the popular and rustic character
of some lag programs were not readily accepted by everyone.
At the outset some voices criticized the introduction of folk
tales, dancing, and fiddle playing, as they detracted from
the religious heritage. Still, all the organizations adopted
features from the home region and were influenced by prevailing
attitudes. Societies such as Stavanger Amt Laget, representing
districts influenced by the strong pietistic movement of the
nineteenth century, have tended to display a strict religious
quality. The valleys of the interior produced lag with a pronounced
feeling for folk music and dancing. The Setesdal people adopted
the popular stevjing, a contest in the improvisation of short
verse in dialogue. Some societies have tolerated a taste for
hard liquor; others have observed strict abstinence at their
meetings. In some measure, the individualities of the different
bygdelag reflected the attitudes and preferences of their
leaders and of the original organizing bodies — as well as
the characteristics of the home regions. Some fell into the
hands of the clergy. This circumstance caused the Reverend
R. J. Meland of Nordfjordlaget to suggest changes in 1929.
Because excessive piety allegedly kept some people away from
meetings, he [25] recommended programs with a broad appeal.
These on the whole have tended to be more tolerant and widely
representative with the passing of time. {33}

"Bridge building" has been a major concern of the
bygdelag, and they can record notable success in linking immigrants
with the native land and in creating a flow of impulses back
and forth across the Atlantic. Bonds have been strengthened
by gifts and visits; on occasion members of certain lag have
gone to Norway in bodies. There have been reciprocal exchanges
of official and other representatives and visitors. Publications
have found avid readers in Norway as well as in America. American
public figures have attended celebrations and conventions
arranged by the bygdelag; thus the movement has also served
to introduce the immigrants and their country of origin to
the general public in the New World. Usually the individual
societies have established contact with the liberal youth
movement (den frilynde ungdomsrørsla) that arose among
nationally minded young people in rural Norway. Many organizations
have received silk banners from local groups in their home
district. These banners were dedicated with solemn ceremony
and reverence and were displayed at all reunions.

A final assessment of the major contribution of the lag movement
seems to be that it offered a place of retreat and a source
of encouragement to Americans-in-the-making. It is an academic
question how much further it might have progressed. From its
inception around the turn of the century to the present, numerous
opinions and recommendations have been advanced. The dividing
line has been between those who envisioned a gradual merging
of all bygdelag into one single organization stressing national
rather than regional origin, and those who wanted to keep
the individual lag as completely separate groups. Both views
were discussed publicly in Decorah-Posten as recently as 1966.
The editor, Erling Innvik, spoke for the broader view, and
Peder H. Nelson, one of the influential [26] members of Hallinglaget,
vigorously defended the traditional family-style reunion.
{34}

The bygdelag as such are probably doomed to disappear, but
the appeal of their motivating force may find expression in
new forms and live on into the future. It is conceivable that
a widespread interest in ethnic origin and identity will cause
an increasing number of Norwegian Americans to seek out their
ancestral abodes and to study the folkways and history of
their immigrant forebears.

<8> Short English-language histories of Norway outlining
developments touched upon in this paper are Wilhelm Keilhau,
Norway in World History (London, 1943) and John Midgaard,
A Brief History of Norway (Oslo, 1963).

<10> The word bygdelag is used in both the singular
and the plural. In the homeland the term has also come to
designate societies in the cities composed of country people
from the same bygd or district. See "Ungdomslag og bygdelag
i hovudstaden," in Den l7de Mai (Oslo, 1932).

<13> The original name was Valdris Samband, as the
spelling Valdris was considered to be correct. In 1927 the
name was finally changed to comply with the official Norwegian
spelling, Valdres. Andrew A. Veblen, The Valdris Book, 11—12
(Minneapolis, 1920) deals with the name.

<15> The original spelling of the name was Telelage.
The final t in the definite article et was dropped to indicate
actual pronunciation. in America the Telemark dialect was
used extensively in both speech and writing, especially by
Oftelie who served as Telelaget’s historian from the beginning
to 1926.

<16> The complete names of the lag generally indicated
their national character as evidenced in Hallinglaget i Amerika,
Det Nationale Sognalag af Amerika, and Nordlandslaget i Amerika.
The chief rival to the designation bygdelag was the word fylkelag
or fylkeslag. A fylke is a district of larger extent than
a bygd. The latter term was for some time used interchangeably
with the more common bygdelag.

<18> There are several short articles dealing with
the bygdelag movement, most of them in Norwegian. The major
contribution in English, besides Veblen’s Valdris Book, is
Jacob Hodnefield, "Norwegian-American Bygdelags and Their
Publications," in Norwegian-American Studies and Records,
18: 163—222 (Northfield, 1954). See also the following: Lars
M. Gimmestad, "Bygdelagene i 30 år," in Nordmanns-Forbundet,
25:260—262 (August, 1932); Gustav M. Bruce, "Bygdelagene,"
in Nordmanns-Forbundet, 32:7—10 (January, 1939); A. A. Veblen,
"Fra bygdelagsbevægelsens begyndelse," in
Samband, 2:39—44 (June, 1929). Veblen in his Valdris Book
discusses in full claims by groups and individuals of having
originated the bygdelag idea.

<19> The name Oslolaget is here used anachronistically.
The name actually was Kristianialaget until 1925, when it
was altered to reflect the change in the name of the capital
in that same year.